Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 16, 2019 41 FOOTBALL RECRUITING 512 yards and six touchdowns as a freshman, mostly in mop-up duty, but on a few occasions he split time with Jackson. "That tells you how good Tyler Bu- chner is," Mitchell said. "He was one of our go-to guys. I know he gets a lot of hype as a quarterback, but if that didn't work out, he can play any posi- tion on the field, and he'd be one of the best at it." Buchner didn't have a lot of tape at quarterback as a freshman, so he needed to hit the camp circuit hard to earn attention from college coaches. In the summer before h i s s o p h o m o r e season, he had earned offers from Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, UCLA and others. "When you see him in person and watch how smooth he is, it's like he was born to play this game," Mitchell said. "It's very natural to him. College coaches loved seeing him play differ- ent positions, because it showed how athletic he is. He could do things that normal 14-year-old kids just don't do. "You only need to see him throw a football once, and you know he's dif- ferent than anyone else. I've probably thrown three million footballs in my life, but I'll never be able to throw a ball like Tyler Buchner can." RESPONDING TO ADVERSITY Buchner entered his sophomore sea- son as the team's starting quarterback, was named a team captain and had a ton of hype after he blew up on the recruiting front in the offseason. On the fourth play of the season opener against El Cajon (Calif.) Gross- mont on Aug. 17, 2018, Buchner broke a 40-yard run but fell to the ground. He tore his ACL on a non-contact play. "It was a sickening feeling, and you could feel it on both sides of the sta- dium," Mitchell recalled. How Buchner handled the devastat- ing injury helped shape who he is as a young man. "As much as it was a really dark feel- ing when the injury happened, how he responded to it was why I think he's going to be one of the best ever if he wants to play this game for a while," Mitchell explained. "He was hurt emo- tionally that he couldn't play, but he became a coach on the sideline. "He grew in a way that was far be- yond just the game of football." Bishop's finished the season 5-5 and was knocked out in the first round of the state playoffs. It was the fewest number of wins in a season for the Knights going back to 2012. Despite the injury, college coaches still pursued Buchner. In the spring of his sophomore year, he ended his recruitment early by giving his pledge to Notre Dame. He won't be the first player from Bishop's to attend Notre Dame. Shane Walton, who actually serves as the Knights' defensive coordinator, was a unanimous first team All-American for the Fighting Irish in 2002. "It seems like just a bigger Bishop's," Mitchell said of Notre Dame. "It's a perfect fit for Tyler. Academics are im- portant, and it's not just about football. That's just like Bishop's School. "Tyler could play high school ball anywhere in the country, but he's at the best institution in California and one of the best in the nation. And he wants to be the best in football. "When you think about college foot- ball, Notre Dame is one of the first teams that come to mind. He wants the best of the best in football and aca- demics, and you can't match Notre Dame in that." RETURNING WITH A VENGEANCE Buchner took his rehabilitation very seriously. He attacked the process head on and often times would get to his high school well before 7 a.m. for his rehab workouts. His hard work resulted in him be- ing ready for the team's 2019 season opener against crosstown rival La Jolla (Calif.) High Aug. 23. Bishop's won 18- 7, but it was an offensive performance that left much more to be desired. Bu- chner completed 18 of 32 passes for 212 yards with an interception, plus added 77 rushing yards and a touchdown, in the contest. Buchner's doctors advised him to play with his knee brace on for the first two games of the season, but it limited his explosiveness as an athlete. "He struggled because he wasn't mobile," Mitchell noted. "One thing that makes Tyler so special is his ability to create plays when there is pressure. He was a little hindered and wasn't moving well because his brace was holding him back." During practice leading up to the Knight's third game of the season, Bu- chner took off the brace. While playing scout team quarter- back, he faced a defense in a cover zero look, meaning that they would be blitzing more players than the offense could block. After receiving the snap, Buchner planted his leg that had the previously torn ACL in the ground and sprinted down- field for a big gain. "All of us coaches looked at each other and said, 'He's back,'" Mitchell recalled. With the brace off, Buchner erupted that weekend against Chula Vista (Ca- lif.) Mater Dei Catholic Sept. 7. He re- corded the second-highest single-game yardage total in California history with 760. "He's a totally different player when he's able to move back there," Mitchell said. "It was phenomenal to watch." Buchner threw for 465 yards and five touchdowns, while adding a whop- ping 295 yards and four scores on the ground, in a 71-42 triumph. He was just one yard short of breaking the Cal- ifornia high school single-game yard- age record set by Jorge Amaya of Los Angeles Hawkins in 2014. "I'm not exaggerating; I probably watched it 15 times so I could find one more yard," said Mitchell, who records the offensive stats for Bishop's. "On his last run, he slid because the game was over. He would have broken the record if he kept running, but Tyler didn't care about the numbers. "All he cared about was us winning. That's what a quarterback should be like." Buchner still has a while until he enrolls at Notre Dame in 2021, but it's clear, according to Mitchell, that the Irish are getting someone who is special. "They're going to talk about him for a long time after he's done playing, whether he's starting all four years or whatever role he plays," Mitchell stated. "He's going to be a favorite on that football team." ✦ "IF YOU WATCH HIM LIVE IN PERSON, HE HAS THE ABILITY TO MAKE THROWS THAT ONLY GUYS WHO PLAY ON SUNDAYS CAN MAKE. … HE HAS THE ABILITY TO BE AS GREAT AS HE WANTS TO BE." LA JOLLA (CALIF.) THE BISHOP'S SCHOOL OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DANNY MITCHELL ON BUCHNER